Halfway through her first elected term as Connecticut Governor and one week after a grim budget
message, Jodi Rell has a 75 - 19 percent approval rating and tops any likely Democratic challenger
by 21 to 40 points, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Connecticut voters split 41 - 42 percent on whether they think Sen. Christopher Dodd is
honest and trustworthy and disapprove 48 - 41 percent of the job he is doing, his first negative
approval rating in a poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

"Gov. Rell remains in a strong position for reelection. She easily defeats her three potential
Democratic opponents by more than 20 points," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas
Schwartz, Ph.D. "Rell even gets a 67 - 23 percent approval for handling the economy."

"Secretary of State Bysiewicz runs best in a potential Democratic primary, partly due to
name recognition," Dr. Schwartz said. "Even though Amann was the former State House Speaker
and Mayor Malloy ran a strong race for the Democratic nomination for Governor last time around,
both are largely unknown to voters."

Sen. Dodd

A total of 42 percent of voters say they "definitely" or "probably" will vote to reelect Sen.
Dodd in 2010, while 51 percent say the "probably won't" or "definitely won't" vote for him.

By a 54 - 24 percent margin, Connecticut voters say they are not satisfied with Sen.
Dodd's explanation of allegations that he received preferential mortgage treatment and 56 percent
of voters say they are less likely to vote for him because of this controversy.

"Sen. Dodd is vulnerable. His approval has sunk to a new low. More voters disapprove
than approve of the job he is doing for the first time in 15 years of polling," Schwartz said. "The
mortgage controversy has taken a toll on his approval rating. Most voters are not satisfied with
Dodd's explanation and say they are less likely to vote for him next year because of it."

"Sen. Lieberman's approval is negative, but up slightly. It's a long time until 2012, but
this poll shows that if Connecticut's popular Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
takes on Lieberman, as the buzz suggests, Lieberman would get crushed," Schwartz said.

From February 5 - 8, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,603 Connecticut registered voters
with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The survey includes 634 Democrats with a
margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data and RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the Democratic primary for governor were being
held today and the candidates were Dan Malloy, Susan Bysiewicz and Jim Amann,
for whom would you vote?

19. How likely are you to vote to re-elect Chris Dodd for United States Senator
in 2010 - Do you think you will definitely vote for him, probably vote for him,
probably not vote for him, or definitely not vote for him?

TREND: How likely are you to vote to re-elect Chris Dodd for United States
Senator in 2010 - Do you think you will definitely vote for him, probably
vote for him, probably not vote for him, or definitely not vote for him?

21. How much have you heard or read about allegations that Senator Dodd may
have received special treatment from Countrywide Financial on mortgages on
his two homes - a lot, some, not much, or nothing at all?

TREND: How much have you heard or read about allegations that Senator Dodd may
have received special treatment from Countrywide Financial on mortgages on his
two homes - A lot, some, not much, or nothing at all?

40. What do you think about the cuts in state services that Governor Rell has
proposed in order to balance the state's budget? Do you think Rell's proposed
cuts in state services go too far, not far enough or are they about right?